


Gain

by trysomecats



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Humor, M/M, One Shot, Phanfiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-12
Updated: 2015-10-12
Packaged: 2018-04-25 23:53:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4981648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trysomecats/pseuds/trysomecats
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan cheats on a very important exam and is caught by Phil Lester, an arrogant (and quite charming) student who is at the top of the class.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gain

“You have approximately three hours to complete the exam. Cell phones, ipods, and any other electronic devices are prohibited. Talking or looking anywhere aside from your own paper will result in immediate termination of the test. You may begin.”

Dan felt his stomach lurch as silence overcame the classroom, save for pencils scribbling. His brain was screaming at him to bolt from the room as fast as he could, while his body sat rigid in the hard plastic chair.

Today was exams for one of his hardest Law classes. For over a year now Dan had been at university studying to be a lawyer. This class was by far his biggest challenge. No matter how hard he studied, any sort of test or quiz proved to beat him. If he did poorly on this exam, he would have to retake the entire class and not gain any credit.

Biting his lip, Dan finally pulled himself together and looked down at his paper…only to have another panic attack. The first question didn’t make any sense. That in return didn’t make any sense to Dan, who had actually decided to forgo procrastination and do some hardcore studying for the past week. He should know this stuff, having practically memorized the book section, so why was he struggling?

Dan took a chance and quickly looked up at the professor, who was sitting at the desk and looking through papers from his previous class. Then he chanced a peek to the left of him. Sitting only one desk away was Phil Lester, busily working away at his own test. Dan swallowed. Phil Lester was arrogant, haughty, conceited….and extremely smart. He was actually one of the top in the class, unlike Dan, who was toward the bottom.

The entire test was multiple choice. You just had to fill in the circle next to the best answer. That made the test extremely easy to cheat on. All he had to do was sneak quick peeks at Phil’s paper….but cheating was bad! If he got caught Dan would fail for sure, and possibly even face bigger consequences.

Dan went back to his own paper, telling himself to breathe and focus, because almost five minutes had passed and he hadn’t even started. Feeling a little more confident, Dan began to fill out his answers.

Approximately two more questions down the page, Dan lost all confidence. All of his studying had been futile; he was going to fail for sure because none of these questions made any sense!  
Dan discreetly glanced over at Phil’s paper again. For question two he had filled in B…and for question three he’d answered with A. Dan had put down different answers for both of those. He quickly erased those and put in what he had seen on Phil’s paper.

Oh shit, he was cheating.

Dan tried to think about this rationally. Well, it wasn’t like he was just straight out copying…he was just comparing his own answers to Phil’s, and maybe making a few changes….but only because he knew they were right after double checking!

This pattern continued for awhile. Dan would go about answering the questions to the best of his ability, and then quickly glancing over to see if they matched Phil’s. He honestly did leave some of his answers the way they were, but sometimes he made slight little corrections…just because he rethought the proper answer after comparing to Phil’s!

On the fifth and final page an hour and a half later, Dan had completely grown used to his pattern of looking at Phil’s paper. That was why he was caught off guard when suddenly Phil turned his head and met Dan’s wide eyes with his strikingly blue ones.

Dan felt his heart freeze. Phil only held his gaze for a second, but it seemed like forever. Dan was unable to move, staring back with a ‘deer in the headlights’ look. This was it….he was caught. It had been bound to happen. Dan was an idiot. A stupid, thoughtless, idiot.

Phil promptly looked away and finished the last of his test, but Dan knew that the damage was done. As soon as the time was up Phil would go to the professor and tell him everything. Dan felt sickened; he would have thrown up, but his stomach had seemed to swallow itself. He didn’t bother filling out the last two questions, instead he just sat in silence staring at his paper but not really looking at it.

“Pencils down, time’s up,” The professor announced. “Line up and turn in your papers.”

Dan moved slowly and sluggishly, while Phil immediately left to turn in his test. When he reached the desk and handed in his work, Dan cringed as he waited for the inevitable. But Phil only smiled as he passed his test in.

“Bet it was another breeze for you, eh Mr. Lester?” The professor joked as he took the paper.

“It was a little challenging,” Phil smiled modestly. “Have a good day sir.”

With that, the black haired student promptly turned and left the classroom without even a second glance to Dan, who stood there with his mouth hanging open. Finally he realized that Phil had not told on him.

“Mr. Howell? Please hand in your exam.”

After handing in his test, Dan all but ran from the classroom.

Once Dan had left the room, he walked down the hall a little ways and rested against the wall, closing his eyes and breathing deeply. He knew that he still wasn’t in the clear yet. Perhaps Phil was waiting until later to tell on him. Perhaps Phil-

Phil…oh god, how was he ever going to face Phil? In reality he had never talked much to the other boy before. Phil was charming and smart and social, while Dan was shy and stupid and awkward. He hadn’t even spoken a word to him before, let alone looked at him…until today.

Someone cleared their throat, and Dan’s head snapped up. He just about had a heart attack when he saw Phil Lester standing there. Much to Dan’s surprise, Phil had one of his charming half-smiles on as he looked at him.

“I never knew your eyes were so soft and brown, sort of like a fawns’. You’re usually always staring at the floor.”

Gaping back like an idiot, Dan was too stunned to speak.

Phil stepped closer. “That test was pretty difficult.”

Feeling his throat tighten, Dan managed to mumble a small, “Yeah” as he looked back down at the floor in shame. He then gathered up some courage. “I’m…sorry for what I did.”

There was a long pause.

“I know that,” Phil finally replied. “Which is why I don’t plan on telling. You don’t seem like the cheating type.”

Dan raised his head to stare at Phil in disbelief.

“Under one condition,” Phil continued. “I’d like to take you out for coffee tomorrow.”

Dan was caught off guard. “What?”

“Coffee,” Phil repeated. “You stay in the dorms, right? I can pick you up from there tomorrow around noon.

This was certainly an unexpected situation. Dan had woken up today expecting to take a stupid test and then go home and sleep. Instead he had been caught cheating and asked out by a ridiculously smart and handsome boy.

“Um,” Dan struggled for composure. “O-Okay?”

Phil grinned. “Excellent. See you then.”

By the end of the year, Dan had gained a longterm boyfriend who helped him study, understand, and pass every single test fairly.


End file.
